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#66640 by Clayton Taylor
Mon Jun 15, 2015 2:21 pm
WHAT DOES YOUR INTERFACE LOOK LIKE. :?:

The topic on "Make DataCAD Look nice", had me thinking how others have setup their own DC interface. Feel free to upload yours, mine currently looks like this:-
Attachments
CT DC INTERFACE (1280x720).jpg
#66686 by Ted B
Sun Jun 28, 2015 3:28 am
I stayed with the standard interface, but I found staring into a black abyss hard on the eyes. I've set my background to Prussian Blue, like an old-blueprint. It's easier to look at and the only major downside is that "Blue" is nearly invisible and it's hard to discern the difference between "Green" and Lt. Green" even with some color-assignment tweeking. My office standard font is Prov Draftsman for a more "architectural feel" with lots of contrast in outputted lineweights and generous overruns on 17x11" originals and .pdfs.

Years ago I worked at an architectural firm where we used Datacad with a Lt. Gray background, in the days of vacuum-tube display monitors, to avoid burning the menus into monitor screens.

I do a lot of my work in Sketch-up Pro and Layout using a white background and black line-work and lettering, but oddly I find that a "White" Datacad background is much harder on the eyes. I suspect the difference is that Datacad's driver's are using pure colors where the white in Sketchup's is actually less saturated. (unsaturated?) I've played with changing to the similar black-on-white for Datacad, but I have 15-years of legacy files that are dark-backgrounds with my standard pen-table, and I find I can't use my office-standard dark-background pen-table color/lineweight assignments against a white background, the color contrasts are too-different. The visual hierarchy of thick, bold lines to the delicate thin line-work is disturbing in a b/w universe. I may try an almost monochromatic palette as an experiment when I have the right project to experiment with between the DC's model-space and the paper-space of SU/Layout. I think the key will be using screen line-weights instead of color-assigned plotter pen-weights.
#66687 by Clayton Taylor
Sun Jun 28, 2015 4:44 am
Hi Ted,

I also experimented with the drawing area background colours, grey then blue but came right back to black as the most restful colour for me. A lot of other CAD software & SU do tend to have the white background when you see other user’s clips on say YOUTUBE. You've definitely highlighted something here, I've always thought the same from a very long time ago, I may have even forumed-it. Why DC's white background appears hard to work with compared to others for long sessions with risk of getting "snow-blindness" is a mystery.

When I fire up SU, I can be using it for a week or two & appears to be o.k. for long sessions compared to DC. Would be good to hear from DC HQ to why this is & get this addressed if possible.

I read something scientific about Blue being the most restful colour when I had a CRT screen, so might look into that again.

Over & out,
Clayton


Ps. the punch-line you forgot Ted was your screen graphic. :(
#66691 by Ted B
Sun Jun 28, 2015 10:12 pm
Hehheh, my FIRST computer wasn't even a PC, it was a stand-alone CPM desktop unit with a 80-characters-wide Text-only orange-on-dark gray-green screen back in 1983. It was so horrible and ill-suited to the task -- retail store inventory and sales/accounting -- that we made the dealer take it back and we got a full refund. It had two 5-1/4" floppy-drives and an integral tractor-printer, and the monitor was mounted above in two pylons that were part of the all-in-one unit.

Later I had a Kaypro-10 (again running CPM) with a TINY green-text-only screen built right into the face, but it had a MASSIVE 10mB hard-drive. Ooooohh!! Aaaaaaahh!! It was OK for composing resume's and printing job-seeking coverletters using mail-merge.
I still have that out in the garage but I'm afraid to boot-it-up until I have someone crack-open that case and clean-out any "debris" first.

My first "PC" was a internally-hardwired Zenith with dual floppies and a orange on black screen, that was a hand-me-down from my younger sister that she used in college.

My first graphics'-capable PC was a Compaq laptop with a monochrome orange-black graphics-capable screen that operated at the blistering-speed of 25mHZ. I bought my first Datacad-license for that machine -- and a 11x17' pin-printer -- for my first side-projects as an Architect. Six months later Compaq came out with their first color laptop...
Attachments
Std SU Layout Interface.png
Std DC Interface.png
#66693 by Clayton Taylor
Mon Jun 29, 2015 3:03 am
Hi Ted,

Thanks for the screen shots, I can now see what type of DC-BLUE screen drawing background your using, I'll give that ago.

For those who may have noticed the obvious, why my EDIT/UTILITY menu is on the opposite side as from the DC-Norm. This was done because I thought it seemed more logical to be under my right hand mouse on my desk... :idea: .....as being the most used menu, SU LAYOUT on that side as well, SU's norm.

Over & Out,
Clayton.
#66762 by Bruce111
Mon Jul 06, 2015 10:54 am
When I change the background colour to dark blue the SB adopt the same background colour with white lines when on the same monitor. If I move the SB to a different monitor is goes to a black background with white lines.

I have always found green and light green impossible to distinguish between.

Trying out the dark blue now!
#66763 by joshhuggins
Mon Jul 06, 2015 10:58 am
Bruce111 wrote:I have always found green and light green impossible to distinguish between.
You can change the colors and color names to anything you want in the Color Palette and save it as your default palette. We have a co-worker here who is partially color blind and he has none of the same colors we have in the same positions.
#66764 by Bruce111
Mon Jul 06, 2015 11:43 am
joshhuggins wrote:
Bruce111 wrote:I have always found green and light green impossible to distinguish between.
You can change the colors and color names to anything you want in the Color Palette and save it as your default palette. We have a co-worker here who is partially color blind and he has none of the same colors we have in the same positions.


Thanks Josh, I will give it a go.
#69691 by Clayton Taylor
Mon Aug 29, 2016 8:40 am
To all & DC HQ,

Prior to Win10, I had the ability to change the entire DC framing around the drawing area to a colour of my choice. Blue, as in my previous post, however now, I just can't figure out how to do this. I thought the recent Win10 Update with the Dark-Theme may change this to at least a dark colour, but seems only MS products. I don't like referencing AutoCAD, but I think this option, the Grey/black must be something inside AC.

So just wondering if anyone else has managed this in Win10 ..? ....& how.

Over & out,
Clayton.
Attachments
AutoCAD interface-01.PNG
#69700 by joshhuggins
Mon Aug 29, 2016 4:22 pm
You can use a product called Window Blinds to fully customize your systems colors. I often start by with an existing theme that looks close to what I want and then tweak it as needed. you can download a ton of free skins from their sister site wincustomize.com. Most are often too glitzy, but they can be good starting points to get the colors right or the button styles you might prefer.
Image
#69701 by Clayton Taylor
Mon Aug 29, 2016 6:19 pm
Hi Josh,

Thanks, done that & now experimenting, work in progress but getting there, it takes some time to sort one out, as doesn't explain very well on how to change detail items. The system colour change seems to be the main area where has an over all impact on all programmes, but as so many menu names, it's trial & error. I've gone for nearly black menu bar top & grey frame, however I'd like to make it darker.....if I knew/remembered what that system menu name was called, I'll have to give it another go.

Over & out,
Clayton.
Attachments
DC - Interface-Grey-01.PNG
#69702 by joshhuggins
Mon Aug 29, 2016 7:07 pm
Clayton Taylor wrote:it takes some time to sort one out, as doesn't explain very well on how to change detail items. The system colour change seems to be the main area where has an over all impact on all programmes, but as so many menu names, it's trial & error.
Yeah. Each time I revisit it I have to re-figure it out. Maybe there is a image with a "map" with each elements name on it. If I find one I'll post it here. You can even apply a different skin to specific apps if needed which is nice. Unfortunately you have to apply a global skin first I believe.

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